Coix seeds are dried ripe seeds of Coix lacryma-jobi L. var ma-yuen (Roman.), Stapf, a genus of plant in the Poaceae family. It is a dampness-eliminating drug and has been used as a medicinal and edible plant for a long time. Modern researches have found that Coix seeds have many pharmacological effects, such as analgesic anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anti-ulcer, hypolipidemic and anti-obesity effects. In recent years, researchers around the world have studied the chemical composition of the Coix seed by using TLC, HPLC-MS, GC, etc., and found a variety of active ingredients in it, including coixenolide, triglycerides, fatty acids, lactams, coix lactones, saccharides, sterols and triterpenoids. Among them, esters are the first discovered components having anti-tumor activities and the most reported chemical composition attracting the most attention. Kanglaite injection, in which the active ingredient is Coix seed oil, has been widely used in present Chinese clinical applications, but the Coix seed oil used in the Kanglaite injection comprises complex components. In addition to triglycerides, it also contains monoglycerides, diglycerides and fatty acid esters, etc. This will inevitably be a great challenge for the quality control in the practical production process and the safety in clinical applications.
In the present invention, the raw material Coix seed powder has been treated by supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, basification, neutral alumina purification and kaolin purification, etc., to afford an effective part, Coix seed oil. With the active ingredients' isolation and identification, it is determined that the Coix seed oil comprises mainly 11 triglyceride components. Further determination of its physicochemical constants has confirmed the optimal acid value, iodine value, saponification value, refractive index and specific gravity, etc. The use of the Coix seed oil of the invention in medication has advantages such as the confirmed composition of ingredients, ensuring quality stability in every batch in the industrial production, and avoiding toxic and side effects brought about by the complex ingredients while adopting coix seed oil directly.